As my devoted reader deduced months ago I have gone crazy
about riding gravel. It is a mix of
mountain biking, road biking, Cyclocross and backcountry solitude that I have
fallen in love with. Last June I had some of my teammates along for a weekend
of gravel riding and I was so impressed with the performance of their bikes
that I made a big decision. I was going
all in for gravel.
There just aren’t many sponsorship opportunities for
exceptionally fast old men and there are absolutely none for slow old men so I
had to devise a plan. In the weeks and
months since that fateful weekend I have sold four bikes, multiple wheelsets,
tires, chainrings, brakes and brake parts, a crankset and a tool.
Before you think the barn at Casa de Evo is vacant; I
will confess I did all this only so I could purchase a disc equipped carbon
Cyclocross/gravel wonderbike frame. I
have taken the resulting machine out on the remote roads of the Cascades and my
lofty expectations have been exceeded.
I built the wheels myself both to save a couple (hundred)
dollars and so I could have tubeless wheels with good hubs for riding in harsh
environs. The brakes are the TRP HyRd
which come in a tad heavier than mechanical discs but are a whole lot cheaper
and lighter than a full hydraulic set up. The balance of the build is pretty predictable
for me including my trademark SRAM Rival crankset and Lizardskin bar tape. Why
would you want anything else?
Thus far I’m running 35mm Tubeless Stan’s Ravens which
continue to impress. White the tires are
illegal by UCI standards, nobody is checking out on the gravel roads. They soak up the bumps and have taken a
handful of hard knocks only to smile and ask if that was the worst I could
find. The tires and discs allow me to be
both faster and safer on loose forest service road descents. No downside here!
With my canti’s braking was a chain of sequential events
that culminated in slowing down. First
you pulled the levers. Then you felt the brakes squeeze the rims. Then you felt the tires fighting with the
ground to slow down and finally you slowed.
With the discs you squeeze the levers and you just slow down. Modulation
is indeed everything they say it is.
Einmotron said it was life changing and he was right. McWoodie
likened discs on a cross bike to the difference between down tube shifters and
integrated shift levers. They were correct; there is a true step function
improvement.
On this bike I have been able to keep up with Hottie when
she is flying downhill on her mountain bike.
It climbs without flexing and is ridiculously light. I set it up with
two bottle cages and a saddle pack that allows for a third bottle so I can keep
hydrated on long adventures far from refueling opportunities.
I am racing cross on this bike since I sold both my cross
and pit bikes to pay for this. I felt
self-conscience when I raced on carbon wheels, now I’m going to be THAT GUY who
shows up at the back of a cross race with a carbon bike worthy of Sven Nys..
Since I bought the bike for the gravel I will just smile
and shrug off the dirty looks I get at the Cyclocross races. Since I get to
race in a new category with fewer folks in it, I am hoping traffic won’t be as
much of an issue this season.
The frame is flat black and I ran with the stealth theme
and have black hubs, rims and spokes.
Black cables and bar tape add to the Darth Vader appearance. It isn’t exactly a Hello Kitty look. If it weren’t for the discs I think I could
disappear at night.
On the gravel roads the bike is stable and goes where you
tell it to. The tires, wheels and frame
work together to soak up a range of lumps and bumps. When climbing the machine
reveals both its light weight and stiff bottom bracket. The bars don’t quite
jump out of your hands when you accelerate, but it launches forward more than I
was used to.
The stability on rough descents is ridiculous. I need only watch and avoid the most vicious
rocks. When washboard can’t be avoided the Boone carries me through with
minimal abuse.
I was reluctant to expose the Boone to potential abuse on
the cross course but after the first race it was apparent this machine was
built to inflict pain on those around me.
On some courses the frame makes little difference. On courses covered with small bumps such as
potholes or grass clumps low tire pressure can only go so far. The Boone not
only smoothed out the ride, but kept the tread in contact so I could corner
securely while others bounced around.
I’ve never been the guy on the bike that gives him an
advantage. So far I like being that guy.
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